From Vanuatu to The Hague, this girl won’t stop standing up for child rights
At 16 years old, Vepaiamele (or Vepaia) is already thinking of creating a better future for the next generation.
“I wish every country could just switch to renewable energy and just stop using fossil fuels. That would definitely make a better world for our children,” she says.
The young activist lives in Vanuatu, an island nation susceptible to climate shocks.
From her own lived experience, Vepaia can list the challenges faced by her community due to climate change: increasingly fierce and unpredictable cyclones, destroyed crops, food shortages, flooded gardens, damaged homes. And for children like her: missed education, displacement and widespread climate anxiety and fear.
“I've experienced many cyclones. It can be kind of terrifying,” she shares.
The climate crisis is a child rights crisis
In Vanuatu, climate change impacts the everyday fabric of community life. Vepaia shares how her community is affected:
“Families here depend on agriculture and farming as part of their livelihoods. So when cyclones hit and ruins crops, gardens and homes, it takes a toll on people.
“Cyclones hit us. It destroys homes and schools and then we've got rising sea levels and people who live on the coast have to move their gardens. They might have to move as well.
“Children miss days of school and that can have a really negative impact. And then there's also the mental health impacts and we don't really talk about it that much, but it can cause anxiety in children and young people.”
Strengthening children’s voices
With your help, Vepaia participated in Save the Children’s NextGen Youth Ambassador initiative. In this program, she gained the skills to engage in discussions on climate resilience from a child rights perspective.
With her growing confidence she organised projects at school, like coastal cleanups, to protect her immediate environment.
“I really like organising coastal cleanups at our school. We've got a sustainability club and I'm the leader of the sustainability club … and we try and organise events that will help our community,” she shares.
In December 2024, we supported Vepaia to travel to The Hague, Netherlands, accompanied by her mum. She joined lawyers from Vanuatu at the International Court of Justice to attend the oral proceedings, where they advocated for the inclusion of children’s rights in the climate justice debate.
It was a moment for Vepaia to amplify her voice at the world stage – and with great success. During the oral proceedings, the world’s highest court declared that governments have a legal duty to protect children from climate change.
With your help, children can gain the confidence to speak out, participate in global discussions and champion their rights.
Want to read more from young people? Here’s more from Vepaia.